


my heart so full and these empty hands

by Lothiriel84



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Awareness Week, F/M, Gen, Queerplatonic Relationships, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Sex Positive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22775131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/pseuds/Lothiriel84
Summary: What is love?(Baby don't hurt meDon't hurt meNo more)
Relationships: Arthur Shappey & Gordon Shappey, Arthur Shappey & Herc Shipwright, Arthur Shappey/Tiffy, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey & Arthur Shappey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2020





	my heart so full and these empty hands

Mum says it’s got something to do with having butterflies in your stomach – which can’t be all that pleasant, surely, and how would all those poor butterflies end up in there anyway?

Dad says _Don’t be daft, son – you’ll know when it happens_ , and that’s the end of that.

Then the teacher explains the butterfly life cycle to them, and for the next few weeks, he’s almost terrified of getting outside to play in the garden. What if he accidentally swallows a butterfly and it lays its eggs inside him? Don’t get him wrong, butterflies are brilliant, of course they are – but he doesn’t want them in his stomach, thank you very much.

When he tells his best friend at school, she just laughs at him and tells him he’s a numpty. (Which, yeah, fair enough, but there’s no need to be like that.) He still doesn’t get what’s the deal with butterflies; he just hopes it’s another of those things he will maybe understand, one day.

Mum gives him the Talk, which has got surprisingly very little to do with either birds or bees, and he assures her he does get it now, no need for her to worry about that.

Dad makes him promise he’s always going to be careful – _The last thing we need is another halfwit in the family_ – and when all is said and done, he can’t honestly fault his logic.

It’s okay, he thinks; none of his girlfriends last very long, but it’s still nice, and he does his best to make sure they’re happy, for a bit. He doesn’t mind the sex, so long as it’s what his girlfriend wants, and they do other things together, like watching their favourite TV show, or going to see the horses getting dressed – whatever that means. There are no butterflies, but he’s starting to think that was a metaphor in the first place, probably, and he may not be any good at metaphors, but it doesn’t really matter.

Mum tells him it’s okay if he’s not in love with Tiffy, so long as they’re both clear how they feel, and she’s okay with that.

Dad doesn’t tell him anything because he doesn’t live here and they don’t talk anymore, which is probably for the best. Herc, who lives here because it’s his home now, puts a hand on his shoulder and says he’s proud of him, no matter what, and he hides in his room for the rest of the afternoon so that no one can see him crying – except for Snoopadoop, but she is a dog, and he knows she doesn’t mind.

The next day he wears his best clothes that aren’t his uniform, and takes Tiffy to the park. He tells her she’s the best friend he’s ever had, and it’s all right if she’d rather wait for the butterflies, only it doesn’t quite work like that for him – it never did, and he’s starting to think it never will, not even if he lives for another hundred years. Still, he does enjoy the things they do together, and he thinks he would rather like it if they decided to live together, if she wants to try, that is.

Tiffy smiles at him and says he’s her favourite idiot, and that he should just move in with her.

Together, they redecorate the flat, butterfly wallpaper and green flowers. He laughs about it over dinner, and just about catches the apple she tosses at him in return.


End file.
